Smells Like Burning!

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:07 am

Alrighty. 91 legacy L Approximately 207k miles Oil changed every 3-6k miles Minor oil leaks due to prior use of synthetic oil

It started off as just a minor "burning" smell. whenever i would stop the car, and get outside of it, after it sitting in the same place for more than 15 seconds or so, there would be an odor of "burning." not anything in particular, but definitely automotive. it's sort of a mix between oil, tires, brakes, atf, whatever else tends to burn on older cars. Just recently, whenever the vent/heater/defrost is on, and the car is at a stop, the smell gets inducted into the cabin of the car, which never used to happen before. I intend to run this motor into the ground and replace it with a wrx engine/turbo legacy transmission, so any time consuming/expensive fix is not an option. Anyone know what's wrong?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:12 am

Sounds to me like what happens when a little oil leaks through a valve cover gasket or something onto the exhaust.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:35 am

I would clean the engine and exhaust off good with cleaner and a high pressure hose. Then the smell should go away for a little while. If it returns, check where the leak is from. Keep an eye on the oil level. This same thing happened to me and it actually ended up being a torn inner CV joint boot throwing the grease on the exhaust, so check those, too.

Steve

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 1:21 am

checked my cv boots. the oil is leaking from everywhere, but it's been doing that for at least a year. only thing that worries me is that it just got worse

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 2:34 am

That's why you should clean it and keep an eye on it. It could be that it had just been leaking for so long that it's finally gotten to the point of dripping onto the exhaust where it had clung to the engine or whatever instead. Before I figured the CV joint was bad I tried cleaning the exhaust and the bottom of the motor. After the water-crud mixture burned off the exhaust, the smell went away. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I noticed the torn boot. Oh, and put a bag or something over the electronics. I didn't because I was lazy (hey evertything's sealed for foul weather, right? Besides its a Subaru, said the man with blind faith) and so the car was miserable and hesitated like a bastard for about fifteen minutes until it finally cleared itself up.

Steve

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 3:12 am

hmm.. rear main seal?

check where the engine meets the tranny. look through the little window where you can see the torque converter. I'm pretty sure if there's oil on it that would be your rear main seal. I dunno... never seen a rear main seal leak firsthand but I imagine some oil would end up on the TC.

if there's a slow leak there, it might not smell like much as you drive... wind would carry the droplets away and they wouldn't hit the exhaust much. but then when you stop, a few droplets might still come out before the system drains and they could land on your exhaust. if the leak is getting worse, the occasional drop will hit the exhaust even as you drive. it's far enough back that perhaps you wouldn't smell it so much until you put on your blower since the smoke is coming from so low? or something?

all this is speculation. if it wasn;t an obvious leak, that's where I'd check next if it were my legacy.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 3:17 am

I was trying to dodge the bad news. Hope its not rear main - you have to pull the motor to replace it. I wouldn't bother, but then you'd have to get to love that smell. Mmm carcinogen...

Steve

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 5:20 am

I doubt it's a rear main, they're not prone to leaking on our cars. I have looked in my bellhousing hole for kicks and giggles and it's bone dry in there, not a speck of oil anywhere at 127k miles. But I'd rather pull the tranny to get to it than the engine...

Oil is somehow getting on your exhaust, I'm almost sure. Be it valve covers, oil pan gasket, ATF leak perhaps?;), that's why it's smelling. When I ruined my axle seals in my tranny like a genius, and the oil dripped on the exhaust, it smelled terrible, as an automobile has NO worse smelling fluid than gear oil

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 6:55 pm

I kinda doubt it's the rear main too. I've never heard of one going in a suby as far as I can remember. which is why I was so speculative on how it would manifest itself. It's my best guess given the way she's describing it

. certainly worth checking tho.

a slow rear main leak in an auto is *slightly* less big a deal than in stick.

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:04 pm

Yeah, if it was an auto Id just let it be and find a way to divert it from the exhaust!

I suggest putting the car on ramps and using a can of degreaser and a roll of paper towels if you dont have a place to wash it off. Its so much easier to find the leak.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 12:02 am

perhaps i'll do that when the weather gets better. If it means anything, my transmission was replaced at 176k miles at which point i inherited the legacy from my father.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 7:08 am

Here's photos of my oil leaks.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 7:26 am

Looks like mine!

Steve

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 7:57 am

i just got word from my mechanic i guess you'd call him, he said he'd do my swap for free, as long as i help out.

mTk · Post by **mTk** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:07 am

LaureltheQueen wrote:i just got word from my mechanic i guess you'd call him, he said he'd do my swap for free, as long as i help out.

DO IT! It greatly helps your general subaru knowledge. My friend and i did mine ourselves, w/o the help of manuals etc.. only the bbs. It was great fun.

MK

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Mon Jan 19, 2004 10:17 pm

I just replaced all the seals (Except rear main) on a 97 legacy with 2.2 It was very easy and took little time. The hardest part was getting the timing belt lined up, which only took 5 minutes. I didnt even have the special seal remover or installers! The valve cover gaskets where so easy that I had the owner of the car do it. The only problem he had was getting the PCV hose back on.

kleinkid · Post by **kleinkid** » Tue Jan 20, 2004 6:15 am

A couple of months ago I developed a smell of burning oil on my 91 Sport Sedan. You could smell it after you parked, and when at a stop it came in the vent like Laurel's did. Changed the right valve cover gasket and the rubber grommet things that go around the bolts. Fixed the problem. $23 form allsubaru.com(Jamie's place).

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Smells Like Burning!

Smells Like Burning!